The New Orleans Bowl attracted its largest audience in years. In other news, the Hawaii Bowl hit a five-year low, and the Little Caesars Bowl hit a three-year high.

New Orleans Bowl Best in At Least Six Years: Saturday’s Louisiana-Lafayette/East Carolina New Orleans Bowl drew 2.6 million viewers on ESPN, up 12% from UL-Lafayette/San Diego State last year (2.3M), up 26% from Troy/Ohio in 2010 (2.096M), and the largest audience for the game since at least 2006 (viewership prior to 2007 was not available). (Sat. numbers from Son of the Bronx)

Slight Drop For Hawaii Bowl: The SMU/Fresno State Hawaii Bowl earned 2.4 million viewers on ESPN Christmas Eve, down 2% from Southern Mississippi/Nevada last year (2.5M), and down 34% from Tulsa/Hawaii in 2010 (3.7M). The game ranks as the least-viewed Hawaii Bowl since ECU/Boise State in 2007 (2.0M). (Mon. numbers from The Futon Critic)

Three-Year High For Little Caesars Bowl: ESPN drew 2.7 million viewers for Wednesday’s Western Kentucky/Central Michigan Little Caesars Bowl, up 7% from Purdue/Western Michigan last year (2.5M), up 23% from Florida International/Toledo in 2010 (2.2M), and the most-viewed edition of the game since Marshall/Ohio in 2010 (3.8M). (Wed. numbers from TV By the Numbers)